Tire tool



June a, 1924. 1,496,251

T. F; WARD TIRE TOOL Filed Oct. 29, 1923 Patented dune 3, 1924.

TIMOTHY F. WARD, OF EARLEYS, NORTH CAROLINA.

TIRE TOOL.

Application filed (Jctober 29, 1923. Serial No. 671,412.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, TIMOTHY F. WARD, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Earleys, in the county ofHertford and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Tire Tools, of which the following is aspecification.

, This invention relates to tools for expanding 0r collapsing wheelrims, especially split rims used with pneumatic tires on automobiles,the object being to provide an improved and simple device for thepurpose stated, having various advantages of construction'and operationas will be more fully apparent from the following description.

I am aware that tools for this purpose have heretofore been used orproposed, which are attended with certain defects intended to beremedied by the present invention. ()ne of these defects is that rockinggrippers or jaws are used which, when pressure is applied, tend. to bendor buckle the rim, so that when the ends of the rim aredrawn toward'eachother they have a tendency, in consequence of the buckling action of thegrippers, to bend or flare the ends outwardly or distort the truecircle, so that it is difiicult to lap the ends. And also when the screwpressure is applied to expand the rim thetendency is to buckle the endsinwardly so that it is difficult to meet them in proper relation,without straining the rim by other tools or by hand.

A further defect of such tools is that in order to obtain the properleverage the; tools have to be made so long or large that the rim isgripped too far from the ends, or joint, and the tool is inconvenient tocarry. By means of the presentinvention the rim can be gripped quitenear its ends, and the tool occupies but little space so that it mayreadily be carried in the tool box or pocket of an automobile.

Also certain rims have lugs, veins, or projections on the inside, and atool employing an ordinary straight faced gripping jaw cannot be usedwhere said projections interfere. The present invention providesU-shaped gripping jaw, the branches or arms of which grip the rim nearits edge, outside of such lugs, veins, or projections.

Furthermore, the invention provides an improved manner of connecting thegripper hooks to the body by a special headed pin so that theyautomatically take hold, without the use of threaded bolts and nutswhich I In the drawing, 6 indicates a section of a 7 split rim, acrossthe joint of which the tool is applied. The tool includes a screw 7threaded right and left at opposite ends and provided at the middle witha hand wheel 8 which may have lugs 9 to which a bar can be applied ifdesired, to-turn the screw. Each end of the screw is threaded into ayoke 10 the opposite arms 11 of which are provided at their ends withoutwardly projecting pivots 12 which engage in the sides of a U-shapedcam piece or gripper 13, the engagement being effected at the inside ofthe arms or branches of the cam piece between which the arms of the yokeproject. A pair of grips or hooks 14; are connected to the outer side ofthe arms of the cam piece, by' means of a cross bolt or pin 15 each endof which is provided with an enlarged conical head 16. The holes in thehooks 11 thru which the pin 15 extends are elongated, as indicated at17, and countersunk as shown at 18, so that a universal connection isformed, and when not under tension, the hooks'ltcan be leaned or cantedlaterally, or toward the heads 16 of the pin, as shown in dotted linesin Figs. 3 and 5, so as to engage or'disengage the outer'fianges oredges of the rim, so when tension is applied, the hooks will sliplaterally down the inclines of the conical heads 16 so as to adjustthemselves close beside the gripper. This action is automatic with theapplication of pressure by means of the screw, and the use of a hand nutto effect the engagement is made unnecessary. Also, since the heads 16are larger than the holes 17 the parts cannot become detached and lostafter they are assembled, the head 16 being formed by a swaging orriveting action if desired.

It will be noticed that the gripping edges 19 of the cam piece 18 areformed at the outer ends of its two arms, and have a curvaturecorresponding approximately with that of a rim, These cam pieces arerocked, by

Site side'of the pivots. 15. any pressure of.

the screw tending to separate the ends would cause the gripperstosoengagetherim as to tend to bend, or buckle, said, ends inwardly. Inother words, the line of thrust of the screw v'vould, be distant fromthe point of application of the grippingforce to the rim,

, and consequently there would exist a tendenoy to distort the rim atsaid point. But with the present invention, the application ofithe screwtension is almost in'line with the points at which the rim is gripped,and the gripping action ofthe surfaces 19 is in the same direction asthe, pressure of the screw, instead of in the opposite direction asinthe supposed, case above referred to, and the gripping action isbetween the adj acent or directly opposite edges of. the surfaces 19 andthe liooks'lt, with the latter engaged over the flange ofthe rim,instead of, being between diagonally opposite edges of said surfaces andhooks, asin the prior art referred'to above. Thus, referring to Fig. 1,if 'the screw is turnedto eXpand the rim the cam pieces 13 rockoutwardlyor in the same direction-as the thrustof the screw and the rim isgripped by the inner endsor corners of theends 19 and hold the flangesofthe rim inengagement by tlie hooks 1 without anytendency to buckle ordistort the rim. and the ends ofthe rim when separated remain in a; truecircular line instead ofbeing pinched one way or the other. so also whenthe screw isturned to. contract. the rim, the cam pieces l3 rock. untilthey take hold, and then the points of tensionfof the surf-aces'lf)against the rim are almostin direct line with the axis of the screw, sothere is no tendency to buckle the rim or flare its ends. outwardly asin the former constructions, The practical advantages of this areconsiderable, and

the screw can be made so short that the tool will occupy but littlespace and can be used on a rim quite close to the split ends thereof.

The end of one of the arms of the yoke 11 may be provided with a curvedextending linger 30 adapted, to contact with the bend or web of theU-shaped piece 13 so that it will not reverse itself when loose, and onthe opposite side the bend or back of the yoke may be flared outwardlyas indicated at31 for a similar purpose. i

I claim 1. A rim tool comprising a pair of U- shaped cam pieces, rimhooks pivoted to the opposite sides of the cam pieces, and a pressuredevice connecting the cam pieces and pivoted thereto, the last-namedpivot being located between the first-named pivot and the rim when thetool is applied to a rim whereby the rim is gripped between adjacentedges of the hooks and cam pieces,

2. A tool as set forth in claim 1, said pres sure device comprisingascrew.

3. A tool as set forth. in claim 1, said pressure devicecomprising ascrew and a yoke on each end of'the screw, the arms of the yoke beingpivotally connected tothe cam piece at the inside of the branchesthereof.

1-. A rim tool comprising a pair of' U- shaped cam pieces, a pair ofhooks attached to opposite sides of each cam piece, the arms of theU-shaped cam piece being presented toward the hooks, and a screwpivotally connected to the cam pieces, said pivotalconnectionbeing'located nearer the ends ofsaid arms than the pivots ofthe hooks, whereby the force of the screw is applied between thelast-named.pivotand the rim when the tool is applied to the rim andtherim is gripped between adjacent edges of the hook and, cam pieces.

In testimony whereof, I afiixmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

TIMOTHYF. WARD.

Witnesses;

' V. B. STRroK AND,

O. W; HALE.

